Former Bihar minister Surendra Yadav, wanted in connection with the abduction of businessman Atul Prakash and for illegal confinement of policemen, surrendered in a Gaya court on Friday.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Ravindra Prasad Thakur rejected his bail petition and remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

Prakash, a Patna-based businessman, had allegedly fled to Anand in Gujarat in the first week of April after 'duping' some politicians of the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar.

In a bid to recover the money, Azad Gandhi, an RJD MLC, who was accompanying a police team returning from Gujarat after arresting Prakash, persuaded the policemen to alight at Gaya.

He took Prakash to Yadav's residence and tortured him for three days. The policemen were confined to another room during that period.

The sub-inspector of the Kotwali police station in Patna, Ramakant Ram, now in jail for his alleged involvement in the case, approached Gaya police superintendent Ravindran Shankaran on April 8 and narrated the entire incident.

A first information report was registered with the Rampur police station in Gaya against Surendra Yadav and Azad Gandhi.

Before surrendering, Surendra Yadav had moved the court of Gaya district and sessions Judge Jawahar Prasad Choudhry for bail.
 
Rejecting the bail application, Choudhry had suggested a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry into Prakash's abduction. He said the Bihar police would not be able to handle the case due to involvement of politicians.

Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, Sushil Kumar Modi, had sat on 24-hour fast on Thursday demanding a CBI probe. He broke his fast on Friday morning in the presence of Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shanker Prasad.